Posted on 11/18/2004 3:09:29 AM PST by snarks_when_bored
They’re criticized by their parents because they stay up too late and can’t get up for school. They’re considered lazy by co-workers and supervisors who watch them stumble in late for work. Called “night owls” for their unusual wake and sleep patterns, these individuals either adjust by finding jobs with flexible hours, or they become depressed and at odds with family members.
According to sleep expert Daniel Kripke, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, night owls can’t help it. They suffer from a lifelong biochemical malfunction within their body’s internal 24-hour clock called “Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome,” or DSPS.
Although it’s difficult to determine the exact number of individuals with DSPS, since many don’t seek medical treatment, physicians estimate that as much as one percent of the population may have this sleep disorder.
In clinical research now underway at UCSD, Kripke and his team are investigating the possible genetic factors involved in DSPS. Although current treatment is bright light therapy (with early morning light exposure designed to re-set the body clock), the new studies may lead to more effective, “genetically inspired treatments,” Kripke said.
“Almost all living organisms have body clocks that run at 24 hours to coordinate with a 24-hour day,” Kripke said. “Although some studies in animals have found gene variants that speed up or slow down that clock, we believe there may be many more genes involved in causing Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.”
His research team is recruiting 200 individuals over the next three years for the study. Among those participating is 78-year-old Deborah Locke-Kahn of Hillcrest. A retired interior designer, she is unable to fall asleep until 2 or 3 a.m. and often doesn’t awake until late morning or early afternoon.
“One of my interior design specialties was bars and lounges, so that I could meet with the owners at midnight,” she said. “When my children were growing up, I needed a housekeeper who could get up with them early while I slept.”
Another study participant, 57-year-old Judy Lazar of Tierrasanta, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, said she’s always wanted to work regular hours, but can’t. She falls asleep between 3 – 6 a.m. and sometimes doesn’t begin her day until mid-afternoon.
“I’m way out of phase,” she said. “When I travel out of town with friends, we can’t share a room because my hours are too disruptive to them.”
Sixty-seven-year-old Donna Sullivan of La Costa said her sleep/wake hours have been difficult on her family; she and her husband go to bed and wake up at different hours, often three-to-four hours apart.
“When I was younger and needed to care for the children, I adapted somewhat and just got up earlier,” she said. “At my age now, I need the sleep. My body needs the rest.”
Kripke’s research assistant, 27-year-old Charles Im (who is also a night owl and a study volunteer), has drawn blood from several of the study participants. He said half the volunteers have found their night-owl hours to be a problem, while the others have learned to cope with it.
[snip]
Maybe I should sign up!
I'd consider it if I lived in San Diego.
What a crock.
Did you just get up?
Interesting article. In my famiy about 3 out of 5 of us have Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. Including me.
It is a royal pain in the rear. Very incompatible with a normal world.
I have this disorder and there is absolutely nothing "crockish" about it.
It's horrible and very real.
I've been a 'night person' since I was a little kid. My mother used to have to almost sit on me to get me to go to bed at night, and then she'd have to drag me out of bed to go to school in the morning.
Let's see ... it's about 2:41 AM. Lunchtime.
Then you know exactly what I mean when I say it is a pain in the rear! LOL!
Sounds like you have the same thing.
BTW, I just finished "lunch".
I don't know whether or not I have it, but I work midnight to noon, so it is no problem. On days off I sleep late, stay up late. No biggie. I have never worked banker's hours in my life.
I love that. Ignorant science-haters decide every disease or condition is a "crock" if it's inconvenient to their theory of "unhealthy people are immoral"
Midnight to noon are great hours for me too.
This is one of the first things my sleep specialist asked...
He asked me how I felt during the mid morning hours, no matter how much I might have had.
He said if I was miserable at 9:30 am, even if I was able to sleep 8 hours prior, I probably had it.
Here is something that describes the way it feels the best.
"Attempting to force oneself through 9–5 life with DSPS has been likened to "constantly living with 6 hours of jetlag"."
That came from this article...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_syndrome
After a very long evaluation, complete with the diaries, light therapy (which just gave me a headache) and the rest of it, he said it was indeed delayed sleep phase syndrome.
It sounds like you may have the same thing. :(
Good heavens! I meant no matter how much SLEEP I had!!!
More seriously, the only thing which makes me wonder is something which happened a few years back. I went to Nevada to work a well, and they had problems. Two of us ended up camping out in the desert for a week. No TV, radio, or electric lights, cooking over a fire, all that. Within two days, I was up with the dawn and asleep within 1/2 hour of nightfall.
IMHO, if you get rid of the artificial illumination, (or at least turn it off), radio, TV, etc. you might be able to go on a more solar cycle.
Unfortunately, in ND, that means up at 4:30 AM and to bed at 11:30 PM at the height of summer, and up at 8:30 Am and asleep at 7 PM in winter. Alaska would be even worse!
Wow, that's cool. You would be a candidate for that light box therapy.
Those boxes aren't that expensive. If you ever changed to daytime working hours, you should try one.
I just re-read your ND solar timing. I had no idea it was like that.
Thank goodness Texas isn't really all that different between winter and summer.
You can imagine how hard it is to get kids to go to bed in the summer (11:00 PM: But PAPA! It isn't even dark yet!). Winter is rough on them, though, too cold to go out for long, and you'd swear they were solar powered.
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